Barton: Chris Morrill, phone home

This is a shout-out to Chris Morrill, who used to be a star player at City Hall.

It’s time to call your former home. Savannah needs you. More than ever.

Last Thursday’s resignation of Rochelle Small-Toney as city manager, who was asked to leave by Mayor Edna Jackson and a majority on City Council, left a leadership void in the most powerful post in city government.

The mayor and aldermen appointed Stephanie Cutter, a veteran administrator with 23 years experience, as acting city manager. She’s capable and well-liked. But Cutter, 55, has no interest in the permanent job. That means taxpayers will have to pay for another search.

There’s no indication when that long, costly process might begin. Mayor Pro Tem Van Johnson and Alderman Tony Thomas suggested that there’s no rush to get it done. They said they first want to restore some stability to a 2,500-employee structure that has been rocked by turmoil, plummeting morale and poor performance in critical departments.

I agree that there’s no need for a rush job. In fact, there’s no need for a search at all. That’s because the right person for this position is almost right under the city’s nose. He’s working 446 miles north of here in Roanoke, Va.: Chris Morrill.

Morrill, 49, a former assistant Savannah city manager who worked in City Hall for nearly 18 years, resigned from his post in 2010 to take the city manager’s job in Virginia. His departure was a blow to city government and the larger community, which benefitted from his professionalism, creativity and honesty.

Even then-Mayor Otis Johnson and then-Alderman Van Johnson expressed their remorse to the Roanoke Times newspaper about Morrill’s departure.

“He’s a Savannahian,” Alderman Johnson told the reporter. “He will remain a Savannahian — just on loan to Roanoke.”

Mayor Johnson was equally blunt. “Y’all better do a good job and try to hold onto him, because I think there would be a real push to bring him back.”

Exactly, Mr. Ex-Mayor.

So let the pushing commence.

Morrill would bring instant stability and credibility to City Hall, which needs both. It might take him some time to fix what’s broken. But judging from his record, he’s a government Mr. Goodwrench. He knows which bolts to tighten and nuts to loosen.

He’s considered a whiz with numbers as well. For much of his time here, Morrill helped create the city’s annual budget, keeping it in the black when other cities were starting to bleed red. A backlog of unpaid invoices? Not on his watch.

But Morrill is no bloodless geek who gets his jollies through addition and subtraction. He’s one of those rare individuals who are as good with people as they are with balance sheets.

“Everybody loved Chris Morrill,” one city employee told me. “He was a great motivator. He knows how to rally people to a cause, he was committed to the team and he wasn’t antagonistic.”

That’s exactly what the doctor has prescribed for City Hall’s current ills. Hiring Morrill would super-size that order.

As a bonus, Morrill knows the political landscape here. He’s familiar with the issues and the players, the pitfalls and the opportunities.

This job should be a plum. Savannah, with a population of about 140,000, is one of the larger U.S. cities with a council-manager form of government. Working here is a good career move for up-and-comers. But will Savannah attract top-drawer candidates this time, since the last manager search was botched? Hiring Morrill eliminates that worry.

For Morrill, coming back from Roanoke (population 97,000) would be a step up in class, which is why he should take the job. He’d also get a nice pay raise: Small-Toney was paid $194,000; Morrill, as of last year, was paid $170,000.

At one time, Morrill was considered the heir apparent to the city manager’s post here. Then politics got in the way. So he became one of 104 candidates who applied for the job in Roanoke. The wise people in Virginia quickly snatched him up.

But once a Savannahian, always a Savannahian. City Hall needs what Morrill has to offer. It’s time to snatch him back.

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Um, you wouldn't be talking about the same Chris Morrill who hired on his brother-in-law to be Roanoke's attorney and damn near started a riot just three months ago, now would you, Tom? Do you really think that's gonna fly here, after we've gone to all the trouble of getting rid of Rochelle for stacking the deck with her friends and cronies? What is it with you, Tom? Do you not read other newspapers or bother to keep up with people you write about?

Chris Morrill isn't coming back to Savannah to clean up behind Rochelle. He isn't going to take a lousy $24,000 raise to conduct a line-by-line audit, overhaul every department, fire the rest of the NFBPA gang and hire on competent people to replace them and all the while having to put up with Edna and Clowncil. HE WOULD HAVE GLADLY TAKEN THE JOB DIRECTLY FROM MICHAEL BROWN for it would've been an orderly transition. But Chris saw Otis Johnson's handwriting on the wall and realized that he was the wrong color for the job, and he isn't interested in it now that Rochelle has literally destroyed all that she inherited. I'm afraid that the mayor is going to have to do the job that the city manager does until we find someone who will take the job. But it won't be Chris Morrill.

So- Let me understand this. Taxpayers will be paying a high price to pay a firm to again do a job for mayor & city council. All the people in Chatham county are to dumb to do this job. Mayor & council are to dumb to to screen personal for this job. WHY DO WE EVEN HAVE A MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL?

Chris Morrill, as city manager of Roanoke, enjoys the same relationship with his council as ours. In other words, he runs the show and council merely rubber stamps his decisions. Got it? Okay, now follow me closely because this gets tricky: When Jimmy Blackburn decided that it was time to retire after 100 years as our city attorney, the job had already been claimed by Brooks Stillwell, who was wired into Edna's campaign from the get-go, and his law firm is entrenched up to Savannah's eyeballs. Rochelle was all for it, since Brooks was already on board and posed no threat to her. Up in Roanoke, the same situation occurred, only far more blatant: the old city attorney, Bill Hackworth, decides he's seen and heard enough and tenders his resignation. Chris Morrill calls his brother-in-law in NEW HAMPSHIRE and tells him he's got the inside track for the gig. Dan Callaghan, Morrill's brother-in-law, wasn't even a member of Virginia's bar when he applied for the job that he was automatically given by council under Morrill's auspices.

So what we have here, clearly, is a prime example of NEPOTISM (look it up), and the reason it should not exist is because it completely circumvents checks and balances, transparency, and fair access. Callaghan not only would not get the job if it wasn't for Morrill, he wouldn't even have HEARD of the opening. Here endeth the lesson.

Chris Morrell, Michael Brown and Chief Berkow all ran from Otis' and his racist arrogance. Why in God's name would any of them want to return to work with Otis' legacy of a low life gang of liars and thieves? It's only gotten sleazier since their departure with a criminal city manager and a lying Black Panther on the city council and her Black Panther husband preaching racial hatred acting as a commissioner. It's disgusting enough listening to any of these people speak for a few minutes at a city council meeting - the $2,000 extra a month wouldn't pay to heat the hot water needed to wash the filth off after working with them on a daily basis. At some point you have to keep your dignity. No educated person with a strong moral compass is going to want to work with this group no matter how much you pay them.

don't do it. Don't phone home. You have made your home in Roanoke. Golly Tom, can't you just limit recycling to newspapers and beer cans rather than trying to recycle former city officials. A sure sign of some unexplained nostalgia.

I'd like your help on this one. I never knew Chris Morrill. But, I did "hear about him" during the time we were busy on helping to get Rochelle in. I make no bones about it, my focus was on getting a qualified Black person into the position. No overt intent to be "prejudice", but if we could get BOTH, I figured that was the way to go.

I still feel that way. But, now that we are where we are, I'd really like to take a look at this guy to see if he could be our answer to a potential problem. I do not wish to go through another "National Search".

Long time, no see around here, and I don't blame you for laying low. Those of us who make a habit of reading the Comments feature and your short-lived blog are well versed on your point of view. To be frank, yes, your view is overly simplistic, if it means finding the "best black person for the job" as opposed to "the best person". I don't care if my doctor is black or if my accountant is black or if my dentist is black or if my attorney is black, as long as they are the best person I can afford. But when it comes to the highest official in the city, I want THE BEST PERSON for the job regardless of color. Let me put it another way: Rochelle Small-Toney WAS the BEST BLACK PERSON for the job and look how it turned out! She wasn't even CLOSE to doing the job, and she GOT THE JOB FOR ALL THE WRONG REASONS and in the most underhanded manner possible.

I will have you know, sir, that when we got down to the final six candidates for the job that five of them dropped out because THEY KNEW THEY STOOD NO CHANCE OF GETTING THE JOB. Otis Johnson DIDN'T EVEN ATTEND the interviews he was supposed to sit in on, as he had NO INTENTION of hiring anyone else but "THE BEST BLACK PERSON".

Chris Morrill would be a fool to come back to this situation as it presently stands. The city has been gutted of talent, of spirit, of teamwork. The unqualified and undeserving have been promoted to the highest positions ONLY because they were THE BEST BLACK PERSON for the job, and chaos rules. Chris Morrill isn't coming back here to clean up after Rochelle's mess and UNDO ALL THE DAMAGE that she caused. It would start the biggest race riot since Watts, once he started firing all of Rochelle's affirmative action hires and her cronies.

No, sir, what we need first is a line-by-line audit of every single action during the past 12 months, a review of every employee, including resumes and personnel files, and the appropriate indictments and hearings to recover misspent funds, including travel expenses and payoffs to aldermen. We need the attorney general's undivided attention and he will need help from the GBI. Then and only then should we take a good, long, hard look at this city manager style of misgovernment, and maybe it's time that the mayor and council do the job that has been foisted off on a manager. Because I've got news for ya, Hank: this city will be run more effectively in the next few months WITHOUT Rochelle than it did when she was on the job.

"I make no bones about it, my focus was on getting a qualified Black person into the position."

Notice I said QUALIFIED Black person. Why do I mention Black with it? Because I've seen so many QUALIFIED BLACK persons be not hired. Of course, so many of you would hide behind the "best qualified" dodge to avoid your having seen the same failure to hire the "QUALIFIED BLACKS".

I suspect I'm wasting my time with the majority of folk on these Blogs. But, once in a while I just may get lucky.

If you haven't noticed though, I'm trying to get the poop on Chris. I'd like to get it from folk I can get it from, without the colored and biased version.

You two have been around for a while on these Blogs. I wonder what have you done to HELP solve the various problems you constantly complain about. Are you part of the problem? I wonder.

Also, have you noticed that I very seldom address anything to either of you? And, do you get the idea that I care little about what you think of me, or whether you think of me at all. Nor, do I care about the "folk like him", that you love to refer to. (That is they are more than a figment of your imagination.)

By the way, do either of you actually know Chris? To me, he appears from what I hear to have a lot more finesse and class than either of you two.

Let's have Hank choose a "qualified" city manager - he did such a bang up job ardently supporting RST! But like any rat abandoning a sinking ship he disappeared from posting during the dust up. I don't flag his posts so more people can see what an racist old fool he is and it's never been truer that there's no fool like an old fool. As mentioned by a previous commenter - he's entertainment.

"For Morrill, coming back from Roanoke (population 97,000) would be a step up in class, which is why he should take the job."

Uh...if that was the case, he never would have left Savannah!

Tom, have you ever been to Roanoke? It's a beautiful area, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. It's full of pleasant people (white) who live a healthy lifestyle (educated, smart). It also boasts a MUCH lower cost of living (government that works) than Savannah. I think you got it backwards, Tom.

I believe the statements made in the Blog illustrate why many of us pushed so hard for what we got-the first Black City Manager. Maybe in our zeal we made some mistakes in judgment. But, at least we tried. Now, those of you who pushed back so hard, please explain a few things for me.

In all the years Savannah has been here, how many Black City Managers have you had? Does this mean that there were no QUALIFIED Black folk to fill the job? Or, does it mean something else?

Now, for the future? Is the vicious and overtly fractious-tinged chatter indicative of your true feelings? Or, is it just that we Blacks who stand up to your garbage infuriate you so much? And, why do you get your noses so much into who likes whom in the Black community?

Or is it simply that you do not like what you fear has developed into a very positive Mayor and Council who seems to have "jelled"-even with this "bump in the road". I see some future operations that are gonna be very race-neutral advances for this City.

No Hank, you said a "Qualified black person." Your not being able to tell the difference between a "qualified person" and a "qualified black person" is what makes you a racist. Their color should not matter if they are qualified.

No Hank - it doesn't mean that there are "no qualified black folk" - it just means that qualified, moral, intelligent "black folk" would not want to have any connection with these racist thugs. Period. It's why people like Chris Morrill left - he had enough and knew he could work with decent, ethical people somewhere else and live in a city with a better quality of life, less crime and a better education for his children. Tom Barton's statement above says it all: "At one time, Morrill was considered the heir apparent to the city manager’s post here. Then politics got in the way." Yeah, he was disgusted with Otis and his racist agenda and got out - it's even worse now than it was then so really would he sacrifice working with honorable people to consider returning to this mess? But then Tom had to continue with probably the stupidest statement ever made in one of his series of inane editorials "For Morrill, coming back from Roanoke (population 97,000) would be a step up in class, which is why he should take the job." A step up in class??? Are you kidding me? Based on the size of the population? This has got to be an all time idiocy from Tom Barton. I can name 50 cities smaller than Savannah that have ten times a better quality of life. The only "step up" coming into this mess would be for someone from Detroit (population 706,585).

My "black folk" neighbor, my "black folk" co-worker and my "black folk" tenant are just as disgusted with you and this clowncil and mayor as I am. They all feel deeply regretful that people have the impression that all "black folk" are this racist, corrupt and ignorant. You want a "black folk" politician with class? Look up Barbara Jordan and learn about class - the only class comparison you can make between her and our present mayor and city council is High vs. Low - they all are "black folk" but the difference is colossal. Jordan was not only the most ethical, erudite, articulate "black folk" politician I've ever followed, she was the most ethical, erudite, articulate politician of any race I've ever followed. Go ahead, Hank, flag me.

Maybe the black community would better serve themselves by picking the best qualified person. Then maybe we can start to solve the real problems plaguing the black community in Savannah....Education, Poverty, Crime. Spend less time looking at the top and more looking at the bottom....Fix the real problems and look at the big picture then maybe in the future we will have some home grown talent to put at the top.

You have hit on what our problem is, in the Black Community. "Fix the real problem" you say. WITH WHAT? The power to change rests in the hands of those OUTSIDE the Black Community. In order to Change, we must have leadership from the top.

Folk can play with words all they want. But, in order to build what we are talking about, we must start at the top.

But Hank - what you don't get is that these "black folk" now mayor and city council happen to be "black folk" but are not qualified and not working for the interest of the whole of Savannah. What does it take to get that through your thick racist head? Why wouldn't I fight to get qualified people who "look like me" to replace them and represent all of us?

That is why we need the brightest mind and leader....one who has a plan..regardless of what they look like.....That is why it is necessary to pick the BEST we can get...regardless of race, gender or religion...

Otis and the clowncil had their chance to make a real difference...but they blew it by wanting their pound of power...Now lets see how much the current mayor and clowncil really care about the underserved rather than seeing them as a way to line their pockets..

I, too, will be glad when we can stand down for some of us having to constantly sound the "ethnicity" reminder. When racial discrimination is no longer in vogue, then, we won't need to remind. The Black City Manager thing would not have become a "cause", if there had been a precedent, already. I still want to know why RST was the first.

And, because RST failed, then, we gotta hear all this smack, as if ALL Black people are "incompetent" and "worthless", and wanting to "line their pockets" at the expense of non-Blacks.

So, why don't we close this chatter down, and get on with being a united city.